Kagome's Fighting Spirit
by Remora1
Summary: Kagome is tired of being defenseless. She asks Sango to teach her how to fight. Will she every be able to protect herself? Will
1. Prelude

**Disclaimer: **Do you honestly think I own the characters from Inuyasha? If by some twisted chance you think I do, I really don't. I think you need some help if you do. Really.

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Kagome shrieked. A yokai was coming right towards her and there was nothing that she could do. Suddenly, Inuyasha ran in front of her with his arms outspread.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he shouted as his claws slashed across the face of the yokai. It fell to the ground in a bloody mess.

"Are you alright?" Inuyasha asked.

"I…I think so..thanks…" Kagome responded with a shudder in her voice.

Inuyasha was glad she was alright "That's great….But why did you just stand there? Huh? Are you stupid?"

Kagome didn't respond. She was too ashamed of herself to respond. She wished that she were stronger, like Sango. She knew that women of this time weren't expected to be strong, but Sango put all of her heart into it. She wanted to be like her.

Later that night

Kagome walked over to Sango after all of the others had gone to sleep around the campfire. "The air tonight is so fresh and clean. I love this kind of weather." She gazed into the distance, spacing out for a moment.

Sango picked up that there was something wrong and wanted to ask, but she figured that if Kagome ever wanted to talk about something with her, she would. As Sango was contemplating whether or not to ask Kagome what was bothering her, she was interrupted by the sound of Kagome's voice.

"Hey Sango…" she said in a quiet voice. "How…how did you learn to fight so well?"

Sango had known for a while that this conversation might come up. "Well, you know that my village was a village of demon hunters…I learned from my father. He was a great teacher. He taught me everything that I know. Well, almost everything. It took a lot of practice, but I was able to get better and better…why do you ask?"

"Well…" she responded. "I've been feeling really helpless lately. Even Shippo can use his fox fire to defend himself…I'm just…there. I'm just someone in need of protection. I want to be able to protect myself…so…do you think you could teach me?"

Sango didn't expect this. She was taken back by the request, but the logic was sound. Kagome did tend to slow the group down when it came to fighting.

"Well Kagome…if you really want me too. We can practice at night after those _men_ over there go to sleep. But the first thing is first…if you really want to do this, I'm going to teach you how to fight with a sword, not the bow and arrow."

Kagome had never used a sword in her life. "Alright…" she said with a little smirk. "Thank you Sango! You're the best!"

Sango gave her a smirk back. "No problem. We'll start tomorrow night."


	2. Training Begins

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Inuyasha. Never have. Never will. It's just something that me, and the rest of the world will have to come to terms with. Psychiatric help is available for all of you who don't except that fact.

**Note:**

Thank you to all of those who reviewed me so far! I hope to keep hearing from you! Special thanks to:

MTnight ; lostmoonchild ; bad-ass-cali-chick ; and addicted2reviews

For all of your support thus far: Thanks!

**Part II: Training Begins; Kaede's Village in Danger**

Kagome fell down onto her back.

"Dammit!" she said quietly to herself. "What am I doing wrong Sango? Huh? Tell me!"

Sango said nothing and kept after her with her training sword. She made a pass right to Kagome's body. Kagome turned away and didn't even put up her sword. Sango finally spoke.

"You need to at least put your sword up to block if you're going to do that. I know this is hard, but this is exactly the way I learned how to fight. It's not easy, but you can do it. Plus, It'll make you better in the long run."

Kagome let out a sigh and gripped her bokken with all the strength she could muster. Sango sat down.

"I think I'm ready for a break" Sango said.

Kagome was not about to take that.

"No!" Kagome yelped to her in a quiet sort of scream being careful not to wake anyone up. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Sango stood up slowly. "Alright, if that's the way you want to play. We'll do it your way."

They fought long and hard into the night. When they could start to see the sun coming up they both agreed to call it a night. While Sango was lying in her comfortable sleeping bag that Kagome had brought for her from her own time she thought to herself. She was thinking how well Kagome did for a first time. Unfortunately, she still had a long way to go.

------------ Morning Time --------------

Kagome was tired. She was glad that today was supposed to be an easy walking day. Inuyasha had let her sleep in because they were just going to go back to Kaede's village. It wasn't that far; only a couple of miles away. Still, she and Sango were working on 2 – 3 hours of sleep.

"Oh well" she thought to herself. "I guess I had better get used to these late nights. Sango and I will be working together for quite a while."

Several hours passed and they had finally made it to Kaede's village. Unfortunately there was nobody there to greet them when they got there.

Inuyasha was pissed. "What the hell is going on here? Where is everyone! Usually that old hag is here to say her hellos."

Miroku also noticed the lack of activity in the village.

"I don't know what's happened here" he said. "But I don't sense that anything is off. There is no demonic aura, nothing to suggest any kind of disas-"

There was an ear piercing scream coming from one of the huts. The entire group ran towards where the scream came from. They barged through the door to find about half the villagers lying down on the floor of this one building. There were a few people standing over a few of the villagers. Inuyasha went over to one of the ones who were standing.

"What's going on here? I want to know what happened right now!" He said in an obstinate tone. Kaede then called over to him. She was lying down on the floor with the rest of the villagers. They were apparently all ill.

"Inu..yasha…" she said. "Inuyasha…this is terrible…" she began coughing for a minute. "I don't know what happened…but we need help…please…go to the next village over…they have better medicines there then we have here. They.." she began to clench her stomach. "Oooh….sorry…" she caught her breath for a moment and continued. "They have access to more herbs…please. Bring us some help. We need it as soon as possible…I don't know how the epidemic even started…"

Miroku was tending to the sick along with the villagers. He walked over to Inuyasha and whispered to him.

"Inuyasha. I don't think that this is a simple illness. I know I said that I couldn't sense a demonic aura, but I may have been wrong. Something is defiantly wrong with these people, and I know it's something demonic, but I've never seen it before."

Inuyasha responded to Miroku in the same quiet tone as Miroku addressed him in. "If you've never seen it before, what makes the old hag here so sure that the doctors from the next village over will be able to help?"

Miroku shook his head. "I don't think she realizes that there are yokai at work here. I can cleanse these people…but it's defiantly going to take me some time. Quite a bit of it."

"Alright" Inuyasha responded. "But we need to find whoever did this. You know Kagome. If we don't she'll get all angry and make it all personal. Like it's her mission to save the world from every little thing that goes wrong."

Kagome was listening in the whole time. "You bet I would!" She grunted at Inuyasha. "Well. I think that you should stay here with Shippo and watch the village while Sango, Miroku and I go to see what's going on with this mysterious illness. So take that."

Inuyasha looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "What are you talking about woman! It's too dangerous for you to go out there without me."

Kagome quickly corrected him. "No. It's too dangerous for these villagers to be here unprotected! Without any protection there is no way they would last if even one single yokai decided to see how much he could plunder from this village. So you're needed here."

Miroku interjected. "I think it's best if I stay as well. These villagers need me to cleanse them, and it'll take me a while. I won't be able to do it all in one sitting."

Sango then put in her two cents. "Well then Kagome and I can go and search out this mysterious yokai that did this to all of them while Inuyasha protects the village, and Miroku can nurse them all back to health or whatever he's doing. And Inuyasha, before you say anything, you know damn well that when push comes to shove I don't let anything come in my way. So don't even bother trying to give that whole "you're not a man" BS that you love to spout on about all the time."

Kagome was laughing. "You go Sango! You tell him whose boss!" She laughed even more.

Inuyasha wasn't at all happy. "Grr…you just wait. One day Sango. One day!"

Kagome interrupted him. "Maybe we should have a **_seat_** to cool our heads?"  
Inuyasha knew what he was in for if he kept it up. "Fine. You ladies go. See if I care. You'll come running back anyway. Just like always."

Sango and Kagome were already walking away when Kagome turned around and shouted "Oh yeah! We'll see! Sit Boy!" she exclaimed.

With a loud thud Inuyasha came crashing to the ground.

"Ow" was all he had to say.

------------- A little while later ----------------

"Sango?" Kagome asked. "Do you really think that we'll be ok? I mean, we don't even know what we're looking for out here."

Sango looked at her and laughed. "I don't know what we're looking for either. But I think of it this way: Now we don't need to practice fighting at night!"

Kagome just realized that. "Wow. You're right. Heh. Alright then! Onward and forward! To Somewhere!"

Sango laughed again. "I think Kaede's suggestion of going to the nearest village was a good idea. Maybe whatever is going on with Kaede's village will be known about there…hopefully we can gather some information."

"Alright." Kagome nodded. "We'll head to the nearest village. I believe it's due north of here. And if we run into any yokai….You can handle them!"

Notes:

Bokken – A wooden training sword. Sometimes used for Kendo


	3. Reflections

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha, or it's characters etc. We've already established that you need mental help if you think I do. So please, heed that advice. Thank you.

Also, another special thanks to the ongoing support of my reviewers:

From Chapter 2:

MTNight (again! Thank you so much!)

Addicted2Reviews (another double reviewer! Yes! Thank you very much!)

NomadGirl66 (Thank you! And yes, she will be able to use her powers with the sword, and she might be able to use some special attacks, I don't know we'll see. But she will be pretty strong)

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Part III: Reflections 

"Good Kagome!" Sango said as she dropped her bokken to the ground. "That's good for now I think. So, how are you feeling?"

Kagome was sweating and was actually extremely tired. "I'm fine…"she said still huffing. "When do you think we'll be ready to move up to real swords?" She huffed and puffed some more and then collapsed to her knees. "I really want to know when you think I'll be ready."

Sango smiled at her. "Kagome, you've come a long way. We've been working for only a little more then 2 weeks and you're getting better every single day! I think that it's about time we get you a real sword. How about this: When we get to the town that Kaede was talking about we'll get you some battle armor and a sword, alright?"

Kagome was ecstatic. "Wow Sango, do you really think so? Do you really think that I'm ready for that step? Already?"

"Uh huh. I think that you are ready at least to carry a sword to defend yourself if you need to. You're at least proficient to carry a sword around. Now, that doesn't mean that you will be able to beat your adversaries. It means that you can defend yourself."

Kagome had a fake sort of smile on her face. "Why thank you Sango. I think. For your…confidence in me?"

They were still about 4 hours away from the town that Kaede described. It had been a few days since they had left on their little adventure and so far it was all very normal. No demons had tried to attack them. Nobody was after the Shikon no Tama. Everything was normal, and that was the way that Sango and Kagome hoped that it would stay. Soon dusk came and they decided to pack it in for the night.

"Sango?" Kagome asked when they were both around the campfire. "You've been fighting for a long time haven't you?"

Sango thought for a moment. She never really realized how much of her life she had actually been fighting for. "Yes, I suppose that I have been fighting for a long time. Ever since I can remember actually. Demon slaying used to be so normal to me, but now…everything is all sorts of gray."

Kagome was interested in the tangent that Sango seemed to be going on. "Oh really? How so?"

Sango was now gazing into the fire with a deep sort of gaze. Kagome could tell that she was digging through her memories in her mind. Although Sango's face was expressionless, it showed a real lot. She was thinking. For a good five minutes she didn't say anything, then she started to tell her story.

"Ever since I met you all, every demon was an enemy. That's what we did. We destroyed demons." She said with a tear in her eye. "It didn't matter if they were full demons, half demons, weak demons, or strong demons. A demon was a demon. And now, I've learned so much about the world that I'm just not sure. I still have that urge to kill every demon that I see. My mind still associates demons with things that are evil. That's why I like spending time with you Kagome."

"Me? Why me?" Kagome asked.

"Because…" Sango took a deep breath. "You see the world through such pure and non discriminating eyes. Things aren't automatically good and evil to you. That's one of the things I really like about you Kagome, and I admire that."

Kagome was taken back. "Wow…thanks Sango. I never thought of myself that way. I guess I'm like that…sometimes…I guess."

The fire was starting to go out. The moon was getting higher and higher in the sky and crickets were chirping all around.

"I'm so tired" Kagome said with a yawn. "I'll see you in the morning Sango…I need some sleep. Goodnight."

Sango was tired too. "Alright. Good night Kagome."

------------------- The next morning --------------------

"Wow!" Kagome exclaimed. "I can see the village!"

It was about noontime. The pair had been walking along for about 3 hours and they were starting to wonder if they would ever make it to the village. As they approached the gates, they noticed that this village was far more advanced and well protected then that of Kaede's village. There were two guards in front of the front entrance of the village. Each of them were holding beautifully crafted halberds. Each of them had dragons carved into the handle at the very bottom of the 4 or so foot pole that the blade was attached too. Each of the blades was different. One of them was more curved rather then pointed. The other was far more pointed. Sango approached one of the guards.

"Those are two very impressive halberds you have there." She said to one of them. "If I may ask, could you tell me where you purchased them?"

"In the marketplace of course." Replied the guard. "We have everything you could possibly need in this town. There is everything from weapons, to jewelry, to books, and food. Everything that you need is right in here."

Kagome interrupted him. "Would you by any chance know whether or not any mysterious illnesses have been occurring in your village?"

The guard seemed puzzled and confused. "Mysterious illnesses? That's a rather strange question to be asking. But if you must know, I have no idea. We do have many doctors and people who study the arts of remedies in this village. If you have any…specific questions, they might be able to help."

Kagome bowed to him. "Thank you. May we pass?"

The guard laughed. "Why wouldn't I let two pretty young girls pass through these walls, eh?"

Sango raised one eyebrow and noticed where his eyes were looking. "Kagome. I think we better hurry so that we can find out what happened to Lady Kaede. Now please."

Kagome nodded in agreement as she saw that Sango was agitated. The two of them began walking into the town noticing how large it really was. Sango was really excited.

"I…I have never seen a village this large before. It's…enormous." She said with her jaw dropped almost to the ground. "I don't think I could ever find my way around here!"

Kagome started laughing because it was extremely small in comparison to the cities she had seen back in her time. "I'll be able to get us around. Don't you worry. First thing is first though. We need to find one of the doctors. But to do that, we need to know how to get there…"

Up ahead Kagome saw the marketplace that the guard had mentioned to her at the gate of the village. "Maybe we can get directions there!" Kagome said.

Sango was still disoriented from the size of the town. "Al…alright…I'm…coming…"


	4. Kagome's First Sword

**Disclaimer: **Nope, nosiree I don't own anything Inuyasha related. I wish, but nope. Nopeitydoo. Nopers. (I think I need some of that mental help I keep talking about )

**Special Thanks to all of my reviewers so far:**

Lady-of-tormentdeath ; MTNight ; addicted2reviews ; NomadGirl66 ; lostmoonchild ; SugarWaffle ; Sangonesan ; bad-ass-cali-chic ;

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Part IV: Kagome's First Sword 

A random person walked up to Kagome and tapped her on the shoulder. "EH! Young lady! You look like you would be interested in this wonderful potion! It will make you very beautiful!"

Kagome turned around and saw him. "Excuse me? Were you talking to me? I know you weren't because I am already beautiful thank you very much!" Kagome turned to Sango. "The nerve of some people! God!"

The two walked down the long strip dedicated to the marketplace and saw all of the different things that were being sold. They truly did have everything there. There was one stand in particular that they both took offense to. The sign said: "Have your wildest dreams come true – Men Only" Kagome had to restrain Sango for fear that she would do something….rash.

The stand that was directly to the right of the…male pleasure…stand had all sorts of beautiful weapons on display. This must have been the place that the two guards bought their weapons from. Each of the designs was intricate and exquisite. Kagome pointed and started to drool.

"Oh! Oh! There! There!" she started yelping as she was jumping up and down.

Sango could tell that Kagome couldn't wait to get her sword. "Alright then…I hope we have enough money" Sango said with a smile and a sweatdrop. "I mean, we should…that last village that we helped out a few weeks ago gave us some pretty good pay. I'm sure the guys won't mind!"

Sango took out a small bag and jingled it around for a minute. "Yeah, we should have enough for a pretty decent sword. You've really earned it though Kagome. With all that you do in our fights against demons, it's about time that you get to spend some of this on a weapon of your own!"

Sango handed the bag of money to Kagome and set her loose. The second that Kagome made it to the stand she saw the perfect sword. It was slender, and not too big, but big enough. The handle was curved and sparkled from crystal dust that had apparently been applied to the entire sword. She picked it up. It was light as well.

"Wow" was all Kagome could say. "I want this sword Sango!" she screamed. "Now!" she screamed again and placed the sword down in from of the seller. "How much!" she again screamed.

The stand's owner was twitching at this point from all the screaming. "How much will you give me?" he asked in a calmer voice then how he looked. Sango quickly pushed Kagome away.

"I'll handle this" she said. "I don't think I trust you with money right now in this state. No offense as usual."

Kagome melted into a puddle. She loved the sword that much.

A few minutes later Sango came back with a bag. "Kagome. I have a surprise for you!" she said with a perky little smile. She opened up the bag. Inside was the sword that Kagome was eyeing as well as an outfit. "It's the same kind of armor that I wear Kagome. Now, whenever we're in battle, we'll truly be fighting together. Side by side."

Kagome had a serious look on her face for the first time since she spotted that sword. "Thank you Sango. And not just for helping me pick out a sword and some armor. For everything. Really. I mean it. Thanks."

Sango looked at her and smiled. "You know that it's no problem. But now we need to get a move on. Kaede and the others are counting on us!"

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A few stands over they saw an older woman who was selling potatoes. They could hear her advertising.

"Potatoes! Potatoes! Get your potatoes here! Hot ones! Cold ones! Sweet ones! Any ones! Buy now!"

The pair walked over to her, but before they could say anything she jumped on them.

"Hey there young ladies!" She said. "Have you come to buy some potatoes?"

Kagome and Sango both gave off a little laugh at how quirky this woman seemed. Kagome regained her composure before Sango did, so she began to ask the woman for directions.

"No, I'm sorry, but we're not here for potatoes ma'am" she said apologetically. "We're really here to ask you for some directions. You seem to be one of the nicest looking people here, so we decided to ask you."

The woman looked a bit sad.

"So…no potatoes?" she said with a little bit of a sob. "I never get any customers…" By this time she was crying. "Please…won't you buy a potato? Please…?"

Sango saw that this was all just a ploy to get them to buy something from her.

"Sure, don't worry" Sango said in her sweetest voice. "We'll buy from you. And then of course you will tell us what we want to know. Right?"

The woman cheered up immediately. "Course dear! Now, just hand over the cash, and you get your potato!"

Sango went into her robe and pulled out some money to give to the woman. "Here. It's all we have I'm afraid…we don't usually have much of a use for money…"

The woman had a huge smile on her face by now. "Very good!" she exclaimed. "Now. Where is it that you need directions too?"

Kagome spoke now. "We need to find someone who can tell us about poisons…perhaps caused by a yokai."

The woman thought for a moment. "You must want to see Akazawa and his sister Akahoshi! They are both half demons that live here. Although most people don't respect half demons…these two have earned quite a name for themselves. They specialize in all sorts of poisons. Whether they be physical, or magical related., You can find them just one street over. They have a residence there. Don't worry, there is a sign on their door."

Kagome and Sango both bowed. "Thank you ma'am. And thank you for the potatoes!"

The woman smiled. "Why thank you! You two run along now. If you're asking for the poison specialists you must have some pressing business!"

The house was just as easy to find as the woman told them. As they were approaching the door Kagome stopped dead in her tracks.

"Sango wait." She said. "I'm sensing jewel shards…two of them. Right through that door."

Sango went extremely close to her and whispered to Kagome in her ear. "Are you sure? No word of a lie?"

"I'm sure. They aren't together though." Kagome said. "There is one shard in one body, and another shard in another body…"

Sango started to look worried. "Do you think that the two half demons perhaps got their hands on some jewel shards?"

"Maybe they did" said Kagome with a similar look on her face. "I think we just have to be careful."

Sango nodded in agreement. They knocked on the wooden door and waited for a moment. When the door opened, they saw a young woman. She was wearing a kimono and looked very friendly. She had long red hair. Kagome and Sango both realized that she must be the half demon sister, because she had markings on her face and hands, similar to the facial marks of Sesshomaru.

"Greetings" said the woman. "How may I help you today?"

Sango cleared her throat and began to speak. "We are looking for the poison specialists Akazawa and Akahoshi. Would you know them?"

The woman smiled at Sango and began to burst out into laughter. "I would I hope that I know them, after all, I am Akahoshi."


End file.
